Metroid Fusion: The Novelization
by Andi Aradan
Summary: Basic Metroid Fusion novelization. See what happened on the BSL Station through Samus' eyes. Rated PG-13 'cause Sammy hassa potty mouth. :B
1. Prologue: History

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Prologue - "History"  
  
"Our history is not our destiny."  
  
-Alan Cohen  
  
Hovering Energy Organism: Metroid  
  
In Cosmic year 20x5, a Galactic Federation exploration vessel discovered an unknown organism on SR388. The hovering creature was a Metroid, an entity that exhibited frightening parasitic, energy-absorbing properties.  
  
Sometime later, gifted bounty huntre Samus Aran was dispatched alone to engage the Zebesian Space Pirates who abducted the Metroid specimen for use as a weapon. On Zebes, Samus also encountered the biomechanical Mother Brain, leader of the Space Pirates, and dispatched her in a bitter fight. From then on, Metroids were viewed as a highly dangerous life form.  
  
Eventually, Samus Aran was sent to SR388 to exterminate the last remaining Metroids - but only after an entire Federation platoon was wiped out in an earlier attempt.  
  
At the end of her battle on SR388, one Metroid hatchling was born before Samus's eyes and it imprinted upon her as a mother figure. Samus took this larval Metroid, the last in the universe, to the Galactic Space Academy for observation and research.  
  
This research revealed several possible applications of Metroid-based technology for the betterment of humanity. The unique energy-absorption properties of Metroids could be harnest when they were artificially reproduced in captivity.  
  
Just when it seemed as if peace might prevail in the galaxy, Space Pirates returned for the Metroid hatchling and took it back to Zebes. Samus followed the Pirates back to Zebes and fought to exterminate their threat and save the last Metroid.  
  
In the final battle with Mother Brain, the hatchling saved Samus, giving up its life in the process. Samus succeeded in defeating Mother Brain, but the universe lost the promise of using Metroids for the power of good.  
  
From the journals of Samus Aran:  
  
I'd been assigned to watch over Biologic's research team. As such, I once again found myself on the surface of SR388.   
  
It was there that I was attacked by a life form I had never before encountered.  
  
It was only later that I learned the identity of my attacker: the parasitic organism we now know as X. Unaware of my condition, I was returning to the station when disaster struck.  
  
Once the X had infested my central nervous system, I lost consciousness and my ship drifted into an asteroid belt.  
  
The ship's emergency systems automatically ejected the escape pod before impact. Biologic's vessel recovered it and trasnported me to Galactic Federation HQ.\  
  
However, during the journey, the X multiplied within me, corrupting large areas of my Power Suit.  
  
It then came to light that the organic components of my Power Suit had become so integrated with my system that it could not be removed while I was unconscious. Large portions of my suit had to be surgically removed, dramatically altering my physical appearance. However, the X in my central nervous system were to embedded to be removed safely. I was given a minimal chance of survival.  
  
Then someone found a cure.  
  
They proposed using a Metroid cell to make an anti-X vaccine. It seems that the Federation had managed to preserve a cell culture from the last infant Metroid from SR388. The serum was prepared and injected without delay.  
  
The X parasites were immediately and completely destroyed.  
  
As for me, one life ended…yet I survived, reborn as something different.  
  
Pondering this fact, I realize…I owe the Metroid hatchling my life twice over.  
  
We'll soon be arriving at the B.S.L. research station. I must prepare for docking.  
  
The ship's computer has notified me of our approach to Biologic Space Labs - or B.S.L. - research station. During my surgery, the research team sent the last batch of creatures we captured there, as well as the infected pieces of my Power Suit. After regaining consciousness, I learned that an unexplained explosion rocked the station. For some reason, this awoke a nameless fear in my heart, and I am now being sent there to investigate. My mission on the B.S.L. station will be overseen by my new ship's computer. Following the commands of this blunt, computerized CO is something I have to bear, as it was a condition of my taking the ship. For someone who dislikes taking orders, this will be the second time I've found myself forced to do so. It makes me recall my other CO… 


	2. Part 1: Investigation

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Main Deck  
  
Part I - "Investigation"  
  
  
  
"Fear is the static that prevents me from hearing myself."  
  
-Samuel Butler  
  
Upon receiving my briefing and fist set of orders, I disembarked.  
  
"Sensors show a large amount of destruction in the Quarantine Bay. It appears that this is the axis point for the explosion, as well. Uplink at a Navigation room on the way for more information."  
  
The briefing had been short and to the point. As I made my way toward the Quarantine Bay, however, it hit me.  
  
The station was a graveyard. My ship had mentioned no bio-signs, because it was likely there were none.  
  
This suspicion was backed by the reality of the situation. There was no one around. Even in the docking bays.  
  
On a research station like this, there should have been scientists…tech crews…maintenance crews…  
  
I swallowed and punched a fequency into the keypad at the next Nav. room I came to. The computer had more information for me.  
  
"The Quarantine Bay is just ahead," it told me. "Be careful - I'm now reading bio-signs inside, and they aren't human. Go to it."  
  
I swallowed again. I was sure it couldn't be one of the station personnel…they were all human.  
  
The rest of my journey, however, to the Quarantine Bay was just as uneventful as the first half.  
  
The door before me opened noiselessly, and even before I set foot inside I could see that the explosion had indeed happened here. Debris from the holding tanks was strewn across the room in its entirety.   
  
I was still taking in the destruction when a movement at the other end of the Bay caught my eye.  
  
I crept forward and saw a single creature, a hornoad, moving about and sniffing around the ruin.  
  
It caught my scent, snarled, and lunged. One shot from my Power Beam sent the carcass crashing to the ground. I was just about to turn and exit when I saw the carcass dissolve and melt away. The puddle it had become reformed, shifted, and rose into the air.  
  
I hissed out a curse and took a step backward. The Hornoad had been infected by an X parasite…  
  
The gelatinous orange creature hovered uncertainly for a moment and reoriented itself. It had found a new target -   
  
- Me. I tried to blast the parasite from existance, but the single shot that actually connected did no damage at all.  
  
It raced through the air at me and, without the slightest hesitation, slipped through a joint in the glove of my Power Suit - which had only the Fusion layer left - and absorbed itself into my skin, tingling for just a moment against my fingers.  
  
Frozen for a moment, I peered down at my hand, and found it to be shaking.  
  
This woke me from my stasis, and without a backward glance, I turned and ran.  
  
My fear-driven feet led me all the way back to the Nav room before allowing me to stop. With pounding heart, I punched in the frequency to my ship. "Full bio-scan on me, now!" I cried urgently. I couldn't stop the shaking, no matter how I tried. I was infected again, I just knew it, and doomed to a slow, painful death at the hands of this relentless parasite.  
  
"Scanning," the voice replied, dragging my mind back to reality. "No organic toxins or unknown agents detected."  
  
The relief that washed over me was mixed with a little chagrin at the immediate sense of panic that had descended on me. I felt more than a little foolish. "Good," I murmured, deeply relieved, "good. What've you got for me?"  
  
"Nothing good," the computer replied, and I blinked at the wry tone in the machine's voice. "This is unfortunate news…the specimens brought back by the field team were infected by X parasites. The X can mimic its prey; any specimen could have hosted it." This was disturbing.   
  
But knowing that I'd been right…knowing that the station was now likely a breeding ground for these little killers…  
  
Sometimes I hate being right.  
  
"Before the explosion," the computer continued on, "a security sensor scanned one." A little display on the large monitor popped up, showing a moving clip of one X specimen. "The gelatinous X parasites invade and rapidly reproduce, killing the host creature. They also absorb DNA and use it to mimic the host. You were almost killed by an X infection. Only the Metroid vaccine saved your life. It seems the Metroid were the main predators of the X. That's why the vaccine worked so quickly and so well."  
  
And now humanity had met the X.  
  
Ironically, I mused in a somewhat wry turn of thought, humanity had met the X because the Metroid existed no longer. And even more irony existed in the fact that it had been myself that had driven the Metroid from existance.  
  
Only, I had never thought to be trading one menace for another.  
  
"But it has also changed your cellular makeup. You will never be infected by X again…"  
  
I blinked, remembering the fear that had driven me to this little room…and, as I thought about it, a fiendish, wicked grin spread over my face. Never infected again? Those free-folating little bastards had better watch out, then. I planned on making them wish the Metroid had gotten them first.  
  
"In fact," the computer drew my attention back, "you can now absorb any free-floating X parasites without a host simply by touching them."  
  
So that's what happened in the Quarantine Bay. It thought it would use me as a host and got absorbed in return.  
  
Poetic justice always did make me smile.  
  
"This will allow you to replenish your health and ammunition for some weapons."  
  
Ooo, I thought. Neat.  
  
"You may also restore latent abilities this way, so pursue free X parasites whenever possible."  
  
I was grinning like a kid in a candy store as I listened to this. It was like open season had just been declared on the X…and I was the only hunter for miles around with the right gun. That computer had just made me a very happy little bounty hunter.  
  
"This station is home to many species," the computer continued, "some violent ones. We must keep the X out of the breeding environments at all costs."  
  
Knowing my luck, however, they were probably already there.  
  
"This is vital, Samus. I am already detecting massive bio-signs in this region. The X are gathering. This may be our chance to exterminate them, but…"  
  
Yes. But. I had only a plain power beam to fight with. No way could I take on anything bigger than a Hornoad. I only hoped the computer recognized this as well.  
  
"You are only at 10% battle capacity." Oh good, he'd picked up on it. "Your chance of survival is extremely low." That was less than reassuring. "The Federation needs you alive and on duty, Samus…"  
  
I wasn't feeling the love.  
  
With a sigh, I checked my target. "Locks on all level zero hatches have been activated. Look for blinking hatches. If you can get here," a room began blinking on the monitor's large map, "the scientists back at headquarters have sent some downloadable weapons data for you. It'll restore missile capacity to your arm cannon. Missile capacity raises your chance of survival to 20%..."  
  
The screen blinked out. Channel closed.   
  
It wasn't until I was in the elevator to the Control Deck that my thoughts traveled elsewhere. That computer reminded me of a gruff Federation CO I served under named Adam Malkovitch. He called me "Lady" on missions; from anyone else it would have sounded sarcastic, but Adam made it sound dignified. Out of respect and with some irony, I named the computer after him.  
  
After downloading the missile software, I went to the Nav. room next door. Just as I linked to my ship, the hum of systems and several monitors in the room faded out. I frowned, uneasy. "What's going on?" I asked.  
  
"Electrical interference has knocked out the elevators on the Main Deck. This may be related to the X. I'll work on it. As for you…try to find another way to the target."  
  
I sighed. Oh good, more complications. I suppose this was better than good news. The universe would probably implode if I had a good day.  
  
I looked around, and after making my way to the second deck, found a maintenance corridor behind a bulkhead. Lacking the patience to remove it with any finesse, I decided to do a bit of a munitions test and shot a missile at it.  
  
I followed the corridor and resulting tunnels and shafts to a large chamber. A large specimen of X I had yet to identify was hovering at the end of the large room, several of the smaller X orbiting the large, translucent sphere. In the spiked orb's interior was a pulsating, gelatinous mass of swirling colors, green and violet. Watching it hover there, I felt as though I was being watched; studied, somehow…  
  
It remained motionless in the air for several moments before lowering itself to the floor; molding and shifting into…  
  
…Arachnus?!  
  
Now there was an acid flashback.  
  
A few missiles and burn marks later - my suit had definitely seen better days - and I'd reaquired my suit's Morph Ball ability.  
  
That made two. There were still many to go.  
  
I uplinked at the next Nav. room I came to and waited for the next catastrophe to be announced.  
  
"Samus, it's as I feared," Adam announced. "The breeding environments have been invaded by X. Sector 1 (SRX) shows several abnormalities on bio-sensors. Sector 1 is a simulation of the SR388 ecosystem. To get there, take the main elevator to the access shaft and use Elevator 1." See? What did I tell you?  
  
I did as ordered and was on the elevator to the access shaft when the elevator rocked from a rather large explosion somewhere above.  
  
And as the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, it lost power. Nothing I did, no key punches, no rewiring, no swift kick would bring it back.   
  
I peered up into the shaft, but anything I might have seen was obscured in the darkness.  
  
When nothing came down the shaft after me, I turned toward Sector 1 and used the elevator to go down.  
  
Once in the Nav. room, I uplinked to hear the latest bad news from Adam.  
  
"The Main Elevator leading to the access shaft has been severely damaged. It will be totally unusable for some time, unfortunately. Some unknown agent is at work. Something very powerful…certainly not human. I'll report when I know more. Now, listen closely. The X in Sector 1 have invaded the atmospheric stabilizers. They are already reproducing."  
  
I sighed and headed off after downloading the sector map to the visor in my helmet.   
  
This just kept getting better and better. 


	3. Part 2: Sabotage

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 1 (SRX)  
  
Part II - "Sabotage"  
  
"The most drastic and usually the most effective remedy for fear is action."  
  
-William Burnham  
  
Sure enough, the first stabilizer I reached was practically covered with the gelatinous little fiends. A few missiles dislodged them and unlocked the door before me.  
  
At the bottom of the next shaft I ran into another bad memory.  
  
Zebesian Space Pirates.  
  
With a growl and a bit of a snarl, I dispatched the ugly menaces, noting how the carcasses melted into the X parasites.  
  
Okay, now they all had to fry. That just went too far…  
  
Something was after me.  
  
And it wanted to scare me before it killed me.  
  
Well, it wasn't going to work. I was not going to be frightened away. I would destroy the X just as I'd done the Metroid.  
  
Three stabilizers later, I found myself in a huge science lab, two decks high. Stations all over were empty, monitors displaying static, lights a little dimmer than they would have usually been.  
  
I made my way further into the room. That was when I saw it…  
  
An impossibility.  
  
The regal, ancient Chozo hands that had adopted me had also left things behind that would enhance the armor they had given me. These, they had left behind in so many places. Zebes, SR388…Tallon IV…  
  
And they'd at times left these aids in the hands of Chozo sentinels; regal, elegant, stone-crafted figures with hands just as gentle as those of the Chozo I remembered from my youth.  
  
Hence my trepidation when I saw a Chozo relic standing before me with an offering in its upturned hands. I frowned at it, eyes narrowed. My first thought was that someone in the Federation had gotten "clever" and removed a statue from its resting place despite my express forbidding of that very act.  
  
But when I reached out to touch the ancient statue, a hiss hit the air and my hand went right through it. I felt a now-familiar sizzle against my skin. Of course. Another X trap.  
  
But it troubled me. How could the X have known to set a trap for me in the guise of a Chozo relic?  
  
Someone or something was giving the X information. Somehow, they knew how to get to me.  
  
I aimed and fired off a quick blast at the orb in the statue's hands, and it gave an eerie roar, reforming into a large, spherical object like the one Arachnus had been come. Only…this one was different.  
  
A large, red eye opened, staring straight into my face.  
  
I didn't move perhaps as fast as I should have. The eye started to glow, energy gathered around it. A beam of blood red energy arched from it, and even as I turned to the side to try and dart around it, the beam engulfed me.  
  
I'd never been shot with a beam so like my own Charge Beam before.  
  
Pure, unbridled fire like nothing I had ever felt rocketed up my spine and out through every nerve ending in my body. The visor went static even as my vision blurred, and a scream I didn't quite recognize echoed through the huge room.  
  
I didn't even realize that the scream was coming from my own throat. It tore at my vocal cords while the energy beam tore at the rest of me. By the time the pain stopped, I was down on hands and knees, shaking like a leaf. I didn't remember falling. Long moments after, I pushed myself back onto my unsteady feet with everything I had left, and took one long look at the large X standing over me.  
  
And then I turned and ran like hell.  
  
My steps were uncertain, but somehow I managed to stay out of the X's range of fire and it didn't hit me again. It wasn't until I was backed into a corner near a locked hatch that I realized it. I was being driven. I'd let myself get cornered, and now the thing was gunning for me.  
  
Was it just me, or did the bastard look smug?  
  
Oh, hell no.  
  
Before I go any father with my tale, there's something you should know about me, dear reader. I, Samus Aran, Chozo Hatchling, Defender, Hunter of the Zebesian Space Pirates, do not run. I have never backed down from a fight, no matter what the odds.  
  
I had faced down Mother Brain, Kraid, Ridley, hoards of specialized Pirates on Tallon, Metroids by the hundreds, even the Metroid Prime itself…  
  
And now I was being routed by some hobering, spiky ball of goo?  
  
Not. A. Chance. In. Hell.  
  
I felt the rage building and bringing crimson tones to my vision and did nothing to stop it.  
  
The anger was fuel. "Come and get it," I growled, standing ready as the thing came for me.  
  
The beam at its eye charged again. Just before firing, I dove. A slide later I was on my feet behind it, waiting.  
  
It reoriented itself to me once again, and this time I was ready. "Absorb this," I snarled, and sent a missile straight into the red eye.  
  
The X gave an ear-splitting howl of pain. The missile had struck true, and I fired again.  
  
I didn't let the fury die.  
  
Each scream made me want to cause it more pain. To return, second for second, what the X had first done to me.  
  
I wanted to hurt them.  
  
The red haze faded away only when I saw the tough, transparent outer hull crumble. I stuck my hand right through the middle of the large X before it could run, and restored not only health and ammunition - to my surprise - but also my Charge Beam.  
  
Convinced the thing was done, I left through the now-unlocked hatch. Once back, I was informed by Adam that HQ had more upgrade data for me, and he sent me off on my next asignment.   
  
And as I'd listened to the briefing, my thoughs had turned to Adam. The real Adam understood me well. He would end orders by saying "Any objections, Lady?" He knew I wouldn't disagree. That was just his way of noting our trust. I wondered if I could trust that computer too… 


	4. Part 3: Manipulation

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 2 (TRO)  
  
Part III - "Manipulation"  
  
"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."  
  
-Helen Keller  
  
The other shoe hadn't dropped yet, and I was starting to worry. The longer it took, the more likely it was that the other shoe would fall hard and be full of cosmic cement.  
  
"I have learned the identity of our mystery saboteur…  
  
"Samus, it's an X mimicking you."  
  
Did I just hear a "thump" someplace?  
  
"I have named it the SA-X. I believe the SA-X came from the capsule containing your infected suit parts. It used a power bomb to escape the Quarantine Bay. That explosion breached the capsules containing all the X that started this disaster. But the SA-X is definitely our biggest worry right now. The SA-X is mimicking you at full power." Of course it was. I could have sworn I just heard another thump. And I think this time it was my heart stopping. Apparently the roller coaster ride I'd unwittingly signed up for hadn't even sped up yet.  
  
"You can't face it." Gee. Never would've guessed that. "If you see the SA-X, just run." I bristled. There was that word again. "Don't even think about fighting. You are still very vulnerable to cold, an unexpected side-effect of the Metroid vaccine." Even when they helped it didn't help. Little bastards. "Like the Metroid, you can be frozen by an Ice Beam. Of course, the SA-X is armed with the Ice Beam." Of course she was. I liked her less and less as the information came through. "Stay away. If you see it, just run. HQ says they have Bomb data ready in the Data room. Bombs will help you find a way out if the SA-X traps you."  
  
Nope. There it was. I could feel the headache start when the other shoe dropped squarely on my head.  
  
Squaring my shoulders, I marched off to find the Level 1 Security lock that had to be activated before I could get to the Data room. It didn't take much looking. Guess I got lucky.  
  
It wasn't until after I'd activated Level 1 Security, backtracked, and come out of the Data room after gaining my Bomb ability once more that hell broke loose.  
  
Something had followed me and now was trying to block me into a set path.  
  
The SA-X was trying to manipulate me. She was in for a real trip.  
  
I swore and worked my way down and around the wreckage to an alternate route to the Nav. room and my next assignment.  
  
It was, however, not meant to be so easy. I found myself dropping through a trick floor to face off with another large, armored X parasite. But like the first, it had no beam-armed eye. It swirled in the air and became a sort of Cyclops creature atop a large, suction cup leg. It bounced high into the air, and, much to its surprise no doubt, found itself eating missile. It wasn't long before it was forced to revert to the translucent, spiked ball I'd become familiar with. A few missiles later and my Jump Ball and High Jump abilities were once more mine. I made my way back the way I'd come to find my exit blocked by an all too familiar pile of rubble.  
  
The creatures that had been roaming were now either in cocoons or dead. I know who was to blame, too.  
  
The SA-X was trying to herd me again. I sighed, bit back the desire to curse like a pirate, and blew my own exit.  
  
Only trouble was, that wound up being exactly what the SA-X wanted of me. I dropped down into the upper chamber of the room beneath me and made my way to the first deck entry…  
  
…and heard footsteps. Ooooo…hell.  
  
I peered cautiously down over the edge and watched upside-down as the SA-X - my first real look at my clone - turned, obviously tired of waiting for me to fall into her trap, and left out the door.  
  
Long, silent moments passed as I made dead sure the menace wasn't coming back, dropped down, and left through the same door.  
  
The journey back to the Nav. room was a nerve-wracking one, one that had me looking over my shoulder and peering cautiously around corners.  
  
I never peer cautiously around corners.  
  
I knew I was in trouble when I had to be…cautious.  
  
But I didn't meet that ungodly creation once on my way out of the sector, and soon had uplinked with Adam once more. "She tried to herd me!" I proclaimed irritably. "The bitch set a trap so she could blast me!"  
  
"Fascinating…" Adam mused. "Does the SA-X possess the potential for cognitive reasoning?"  
  
"She possesses the potential for me to kick her ass," I growled, glaring at the monitor. "Just wait until I'm back at full strength…"  
  
"For now, Samus, I need you to go to Sector 4 (AQA). Now that the Level 1 sevurity locks are disabled, the X have infiltrated the water habitat."  
  
"I can barely contain my glee," I muttered through clenched teeth.  
  
"Get to Sector 4. I'll give you your orders when you get there."  
  
And the screen blanked out. I barely remember treading from the small room and boarding the elevator. I was still seething over the trap that had been set for me.  
  
The SA-X. An enemy with my strongest abilities. But did it have reason? Probably not. It was just a killing machine. In my current state, I couldn't face it head-on. The SA-X was me, only heartless. I had to stop it before it learned its' potential and threatened the universe… 


	5. Part 4: Havoc

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 4 (AQA)  
  
Part IV - "Havoc"  
  
"You can be greater than anything that can happen to you."  
  
-Norman Vincent Peale  
  
I hit Sector 4 and uplinked with Adam.  
  
"This sector has taken more damage than expected. I knew the X were powerful and destructive, but still…this seems to be purposeful. We certainly can't rule out the possibility that the SA-X has a high degree of intelligence."  
  
Yes, I thought. And all of it mine.  
  
"I find the X fascinating, especially the SA-X."  
  
You would, you tin-plated freak. Yes. I was disgusted. Wouldn't you have been?  
  
"But I digress." Really. You think?  
  
"This sector is home to a very large creature the researchers called Serris. It is capable of moving and attacking at ultra-high speed. The more seneless and widespread destruction may be attributable to Serris. No doubt the SA-X released it, but I can't be sure why yet. Serris has returned often to the breeding tank here. Its natural behavior must be to go back to it periodically. It's a valuable specimen, but you have been authorized to terminate it. If you don't, it may invade other Sectors. Oh, and be careful. Some live electric wiring has fallen into the water habitats, and we can't cut power. It would affect the station adversely. You know what to do."  
  
I sighed. Of course there would be voltage in the water. It went hand in hand with the "Probability of Samus Having A Good Day" theorum.  
  
Or, simplified, a statistical impossibility.  
  
I took my time on my way to Serris, trying to devise a strategy to use against the beast.  
  
But how to fight something that could move so quickly?  
  
I thought the point was moot when I dove to the bottom of the breeding tank and found the rather garish, skeletal remains of what looked to most likely be Serris.  
  
And therefore, I kept going, ready to report my findings to Adam.  
  
The ground shook beneath my feet, the roar that followed shaking my bones like the approach of the creature had shaken the ground. It looked like Serris, but I had seen the remains of the long, snakelike being in the breeding tank, so I knew that it had to be an X mimicking Serris.  
  
Adam was right. The blighter was quick. It had bitten me twice and run before I could even get a shot off.   
  
It took some doing, but I finally managed to take it down and force it back to the clear ball I was growing so accustomed to obliterating.  
  
One absorbed X later, I had regained the Speed Boost ability for my suit, an ability I had dearly missed.  
  
I used it to blast my way back through the entirety of Sector 4, and soon found myself uplinked to Adam again.  
  
"So Serris had been infected by the X too…well, as a result, you recovered another ability. At this rate, you may be able to face the SA-X yet…"  
  
Damn straight I would. The little bitch was going down. Hard.  
  
"But that's still a ways off. HQ has more support data. This time it's Missile upgrade data. You desperately need this, but the Data room here is sealed with a Level 4 lock, the highest security level. Let's avoid opening sensitive areas unless it's necessary. Also, the route to the Data room in Sector 2 is blocked by still more SA-X activity. I note a deliberate activity pattern, as if it is blocking your recovery intentionally."  
  
Of course she was. She wanted me dead on her terms. But no deal.  
  
"Samus, it looks like your best option for this download is in Sector 3." 


	6. The End

Wow. Humanity never ceases to amaze me.  
  
I put the previous rant up with the firm, certain decision made that I was NOT going to continue this story on this website.  
  
But I received so many reviews offering support and encouragement that I feel that it may just be worth it to follow this to fruition.  
  
And to promise; not all the chapters are that short, Samus DOES get to speak actual words occasionally, and there WILL be quite a bit of action near the end.  
  
Lots of bleeding and all that rubbish. So that being said, Andi would like to tell you all to go on and click that little next button. The next few chapters are up in this novelization, and we hope you enjoy them.  
  
Oh. And some of the chapters are going to be short. Deal with it.  
  
Samus does not have anyone to talk to. Therefore she does not say much. But given that this entire story takes place from Samus' own point of view, does there really need to BE much dialogue? You get to see into the woman's mind, for pete's sake. Let that be enough.  
  
Besides. Without spoilers given, she shouts at Adam quite a bit later on. ;)  
  
So go read. Have fun. And I want to express my deep and abiding appreciation for those of you who have been so kind to send me messages of such optimistic support. I can't thank you enough.  
  
---Andi 


	7. Part 5: Aid

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 3 (PYR)  
  
Part V - "Aid"  
  
"Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes."   
  
-J.M. Barrie  
  
"Thankfully," Adam reported when I arrived, "the X have not invaded this area yet. The Data room here is sealed by another security hatch. In order to download you must find the Security room here and activate Level 2 hatches. This may allow the X and SA-X parasites into the area…but we are left with no choice. Your recovery is our main goal."  
  
I sighed. My recovery was taking too damn long, as far as I was concerned.  
  
"Avoid superheated areas," Adam advised. "Your suit isn't yet able to withstand the temperatures. HQ is working on it, but until the data is sent, you'll have to be careful. There are no superheated rooms on your route, so turn back if you enter one. Tread lightly, Samus. You are the only one who can do this."  
  
The speed boost would prove a huge boon, as it got me enough exceleration to break into the Level 2 Security room and activate the hatches.  
  
Adam had been right again. No sooner had I activated Level 2 security than several creatures - X hosts, no doubt about it - had swarmed in. I fought my way to the Data room, and downloaded the missile upgrade with no problem, and now had several kilos of destructive, concussive force in my cannon to back up any arguments made by Charge Beam.  
  
Life was soo good when I was armed.  
  
I went to exit Sector 3, however, and found my exit to be blocked completely by…  
  
Yet another pile of rubble.  
  
That clone was really starting to piss me off.  
  
I began backtracking to create my own exit when a huge explosion sent me flying for cover to avoide massive amounts of shrapnel from the remains of a nearby bulkhead. My initial thought was that another of the larger X organisms had tracked me again, but when I went to investigate, I found not an X, but insstead, a rogue Security Robot.  
  
Hn. Interesting. And no doubt a gift sent by my old friend, the SA-X.  
  
I leaped into the air, grabbing ahold of a jagged edge to keep the thing from trampling right over me.  
  
But when it started spitting flaming balls of napalm at me, it got personal. With a few well-placed missiles to its central power node, I convinced it to take a hike, and it left a nice, convenient pile of debris I was able to use as something of a ladder toward a new way out of there.  
  
It let me out rather conveniently at a handy point close to the Nav. room. I went inside, uplinked, and reported back to Adam, my inner self still complaining the entire time about having to take orders.  
  
"I see that you encountered a rogue Security Robot. You may destroy it if you meet it again. Your safety is vital. But as to your brief…Level 2 security locks are released, so Sectors 5 and 6 are open. That means those sectors have likely been infiltrated by X. They are much harder to stop than we initially suspected. You're still susceptible to cold from the vaccine's side effects, so you'll take damage if you even set foot inside Sector 5."  
  
I looked down at my poor suit. Char marks from Arachnus, blaster char from the Chozo statue, bite marks from Serris…frankly, I couldn't help but wonder how much worse it could actually get.  
  
Stupid thing to wonder.  
  
"Avoid Sector 5 for now, but in the meantime, HQ is working on data to adjust your suit for extreme temperatures. Once we have that transmission, you can download it, but…"  
  
But? Again? how many buts could there be?  
  
"The X have destroyed all the Data rooms you've used so far. I no longer doubt their capacity for critical thought."  
  
Unfortunately, neither did I.  
  
"You'll have to use the Data room in Sector 6." 


	8. Part 6: Fury

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 6 (NOC)  
  
Part VI - "Fury"  
  
"Every stroke our fury strikes is sure to hit ourselves at last."  
  
- William Penn  
  
"The Varia Suit data is here from HQ, ready to download."  
  
That was a relief. It was so frustrating to be so close to what I knew that suit could do, yet be so unable to access the abilities it should have already had. "Get moving to a Data room. But there's a problem."  
  
If I had a nickel for every time he said that, I'd be a rich woman and retired to some moon someplace to live my days in quiet repose.  
  
"X from the sub-zero sector ARC are in Sector 6 (NOC), and they…" he seemed almost hesitant to tell me.  
  
"What?" I prodded.  
  
"They've been changed by the cold. If you absorb one, you'll be frozen from within."  
  
I stared. That sounded distinctly unpleasant.  
  
A little clip of one of the sub-zero X appeared on my screen. They were huge and blue. Should be easy to avoid, I thought.  
  
I hoped.  
  
"This seems like a deliberate tactic. once you download the Varia Suit data, you'll be out of danger. Just be extremely careful until then. Remember, avoid the blue X. Use your beam to stun them and get by."  
  
I nodded. That helped a little, at least. At least I had a fighting chance to get by.  
  
I set out, noting the unfortunate position of the Data room. I wasn't sure it could have been any farther away from where I was without actually being outside the station. I just hoped I didn't get killed between here and there.  
  
The first few blue X I came upon were easy enough to stun and pass by.  
  
And then they started traveling in packs. I gave up on the idea of standing still long enough to stun each one individually after one of them sucked itself right through my suit and into my skin.  
  
It couldn't have been any colder if I'd been shot naked out an airlock.  
  
Cold, frigid fire shot through me, an immobilizing blast of liquid ice where my blood should have been. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe…too cold to even scream.  
  
I stood literally frozen to the ground, my heart literally stoping. After what seemed like a pain-filled sojourn in hell, the feeling in my outer extremities began returning. I wasn't sure how long I stood like that. As soon as I could move without fear of falling over, I ran, dodging another pair of the blue devils as I went.  
  
Several corridors and a bombed floor later, I would find myself once more in danger to life and limb.  
  
My double, the lethal SA-X, followed me through a hatch. Just when I thought escape would be impossible, just when I thought for sure she'd seen me, the Morph Ball's bomb apparatus became a tool that saved my life.  
  
I dropped down - still inside the little ball - and backtracked a couple feet.   
  
I could still hear the demon's foosteps above and knew she couldn't find me.  
  
Liquid fire roiled through me when the power bomb I hadn't heard her drop detonated, destroying a rather large portion of the crawlspace in which I hid. I waited until I heard a door open and shut somewhere below before I undfolded from the ball shape, moving as slowly as possible to minimize the burning agony now shooting through me.  
  
Slowly, each movement like a knife in my flesh, I crawled from my hiding place, leaning back against a nearby wall. I yanked my Power Suit's helmet from my head and dropped it to the deck beside me, and unlocked the beam cannon from my right arm, letting it hit the deck beside my helmet. I pulled off the gloves next, and just sat, staring blankly into space.  
  
I was a sitting duck, an easy target for anything that might wander past, and what was worse…  
  
I didn't care.  
  
The SA-X could have walked in on me at that exact moment, blasted me to kingdom come, and I wouldn't have lifted a finger to stop her.  
  
Before I could stop myself, before I had even realized what I was doing, I'd buried my face in my hands and started to sob.  
  
I'm not sure how long I sat like that, letting my emotions rule me. I'm not proud of it, either. In my profession, I can't afford to break down like this unless I'm ready to die in swiftly painful ways.  
  
And yet, I couldn't seem to stop the tears from falling.  
  
Bruised, battered, bloody, I sat, pouring out my frustration and pain in each body-shaking sob.  
  
It wasn't until a face flickered into my mind's eye that I could begin to regain control over myself.  
  
Adam. The real Adam, would have never approved of such a lapse in duty.  
  
So I thought, anyway. Something he'd once told me had stuck in my head and chose to unearth itself in that moment. "Only a fool has no fear. And only an idiot buries his heart."  
  
Maybe Adam…maybe my friend would have understood after all.  
  
That thought was somehow re-energizing. I was no more injured now than I'd been moments ago, but I felt now as if I had the strength…the heart…to see this mission through to its end - no matter what end it came to.  
  
I slipped my gloves back on, locked the beam cannon once more into place, and pulled my helmet back on. I sucked in a breath and pushed myself to my feet, ignoring how badly it hurt, and made my way through, eyes peeled for the troublesome SA-X.  
  
I found not her in the Data room, but instead found a larged, spiked-ball X destroying the transmission pod where I would have received the data for the Varia Suit upgrade.  
  
Something in me snapped. "Sonnuvabitch!" I roared when it finished, leaving a smoking pile of debris in its wake to mock me.  
  
My lip curled back in a furious snarl and I shot through the hatch before me to confront the creature.  
  
It had transformed into an odd, huge round ball with tiny replicas of itself orbiting around it.  
  
I swore angrily when the missile I fired bounced off its shell in harmless impotence.  
  
After a moment or two of furious dodging and dancing to keep out of harm's way, I nailed it with a charged blast from my power beam. A loud roar of pain told me that the thing apparently didn't like the flavor of that.  
  
So, of course, being who and what I am, I did it again.  
  
And again. Until the little floating bastard reverted to its native form.  
  
I missiled the shell off and absorbed it before it could run away, and regained the Varia Suit.  
  
Wearing an upgraded suit and a smile that was equal parts smug and evil, I exited the room. As I had guessed, the blue X with the freezing ability zoomed toward me, intent on once more freezing me where I stood.  
  
It absorbed into my skin, and instead of the painful, body-freezing cold, it felt like a morning breeze…  
  
Rather refreshing.  
  
And so it was that I gained another point, and the X lost another bargaining chip.  
  
Score so far, 40-Love…  
  
Advantage, Samus.  
  
I made my way toward the sector's exit, grinning rather fiendishly when a pair of blue X saw me coming and ran like scared little sissy girls.  
  
I uplinked with Adam once again at the Sector 6 Nav. room and filled him in. "One of the big ones destroyed the transmission pod down there before I could kick its ass, but I tracked it down and got my data back."  
  
"But…how did the X download the Varia Suit data?" Adam asked curiously.  
  
I shrugged. I wasn't in this for the science…I just wanted to get my stuff back and kick the SA-X's ass. "Hell if I know," I replied bluntly.  
  
"This doesn't seem to make any sense at all," Adam continued, and in my mind's eye I could see the scientifically-motivated scowl on the real Adam's face. This would have fascinated him. "Unless the X…" a pause; almost thoughtful. "Unless the X have the ability to process data organically. At any rate, you have the Varia Suit data. Now, you'll be protected from extreme temperatures. More importantly, the SA-X will no longer be able to freeze you, so you can escape easier. But you're still too weak."  
  
No kidding. I neglected to mention my embarrassing little breakdown after my last narrow escape.  
  
"That thing is too much for you; you currently have no way of damaging it. But my simulations indicate that a penetrating weapon like the Plasma Beam might work. Developing modifications data will take HQ some time, though. There's also a chance that you may be able to restore your Plasma Beam by absorbing a large Core-X, as you did with the Charge Beam function. As for restoring Ice Beam functionality, I doubt it…your current cellular makeup would reject that addition. Therefore, HQ has developed an Ice Missile upgrade. This will add a freezing effect to your missiles. It will help. Go to Sector 5 (ARC) for the download." 


	9. Part 7: Routine

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 5 (ARC)  
  
Part VII - "Routine"  
  
"In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action."  
  
- Aristotle  
  
"You need to download data for the Ice Missile upgrade, but as you might expect, the Data room here is secured. Level 3 Security hatches are yellow. Release the security lock and download data as usual. And experiment with those new missiles. They will be helpful."  
  
With this second brief in mind, I exited the Sector 5 Nav. room and got to work. X were everywhere, and they'd borrowed familiar forms all over the place.  
  
Just a little annoying, I thought.  
  
The security release and download were routine  
  
As I made my way back toward the sector exit, all hell broke loose.  
  
Again.  
  
"Emergency in Sector 3," the warning voice of the station's computer announced casually.  
  
I made a mental note to find the computer's designer someday.  
  
And shoot him.  
  
Red alert lights were flashing - goodbye vision - sirens blaring.  
  
I punched in the frequency to my ship. "What's going on?"  
  
"Emergency in Sector 3," Adam reported. I bit back the retort that wanted to come out and let him continue. "The area could melt down soon. It seems the Main Boiler's cooling unit is malfunctioning. This could easily destroy the entire research station, as it would likely trigger the auto-destruct explosives. We have about six minutes before that happens. Hurry to Sector 3 and access the Control room to the side of the Main Boiler. Most of the systems in Sector 3 are down because of this… Again, we know who to blame. The SA-X must have hacked into the system control file. What impressive intelligence."  
  
Yeah, well, I'd appreciate it later. Right now I was too interested in not blowing up. With a curse and a prayer murmured in the same breath, I turned, tearing out of the Nav. room.  
  
The next six minutes would either save or damn us all. 


	10. Part 8: Meltdown

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 3 (PYR)  
  
Part VIII - "Meltdown"  
  
"Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts; not amid joy."  
  
-Felicia Hemans  
  
I ran as if a legion of Metroids was on my heels, tearing back through Sector 3 without stopping for anything. The timer in my visor was counting itself back toward my extinction, and I didn't think I could possibly go fast enough to stop it.  
  
This was the stuff nightmares were made of. I knew I'd have them for years.  
  
If I lived through this, anyway.  
  
Somehow, some god in the heavens - or maybe a demon in hell - lent me a hand and let me reach my destination before the timer reached zero.  
  
I stepped into the control room and stopped dead. Instead of the SA-X I had expected, there was a human crew member standing at the control platform. "What the hell are you doing?" I screeched. "Stop! You'll kill us all!"  
  
The manner in which he moved triggered something in the back of my mind.  
  
It was the same narrow-minded focus I'd seen when the SA-X had been endeavoring to entrap me. I swore and shot the man, noting with wry distaste that the human body melted away to be replaced by another large Core-X, as Adam had called them. It was with hasty shots that I dispatched this Core-X, for the timer was still ticking backward, and I would be damned if this station sealed my fate.  
  
It finally fell before my relentless, frenzied attack, and I reclaimed by Wide Beam.  
  
Wasting no time, I scurried over to the Control platform and stopped the meltdown with only seconds to spare.  
  
As the huge fans once again began circulating cooler air to the boiler, I leaned back against the console, taking a moment to try and catch my breath and calm my erratic heartbeat.  
  
Disaster Averted.  
  
This time.  
  
Moving considerably slower this time, I made my way back to the Sector 3 Nac. room to report to Adam. "They ate a crew member and used what he knew. It was kind of creepy."  
  
"The X mimicked a crew member…it all makes sense now."  
  
I blinked. "I can't wait to hear this one," I muttered bleakly. "Explain."  
  
"The X can absorb the knowledge and memories of their prey. What an astounding find."  
  
"Yes. Great. Something to write home about. Speaking of which, can I go now?" I asked irritably. I was tired and aching and just wanted out of that stupid station.  
  
Adam was silent for a moment, the computer no doubt transmitting my "find" to headquarters.   
  
Sure enough…  
  
"HQ was very impressed. But don't you find it strange?"  
  
"Which part?" I deadpanned.  
  
"This could have destroyed the station with the X in it, not to mention the SA-X. Unusual for a self-preserving species like the X. Unless…" He trailed off.  
  
I was starting to really hate when he did that. "Unless what?" I snapped.  
  
"Your presence is an even greater threat, a threat to the existance of X elsewhere…this is only a hypothesis. Perhaps…their survival instinct is in conflict with their newly-borrowed intelligence."  
  
Whatever results that brought about could be in no way good.  
  
"Don't let your guard down yet." Hadn't planned on it, but thanks. "The X are still a threat. Samus, I see bio-signs on the Habitation Deck. Survivors? The infected crewman you saw survived until recently…maybe there's a chance…main elevator has been repaired. Go check it out."  
  
This, I hoped, would be a less disheartening task than what I'd been through so far. I desperately needed good news. 


	11. Part 9: Rescue

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews. Yeah, yeah, this chapter's short as hell. And I don't care...it keeps with the theme I'm working on with keeping each sector a different chapter. So nyar.  
  
Habitation Deck  
  
Part IX - "Rescue"  
  
"These are the times that try men's souls."  
  
- Thomas Paine  
  
"Uneventful" barely described my trip to the Habitation Deck. It was as if the X somehow knew that what I was doing then had no bearing on them whatsoever.  
  
The Habitation Deck had three levels. I made my way to the habitat control console on the third deck, and unlocked the door.  
  
Several non-humanoid creatures sprung out. A mother Dachora and her baby, followed by three typically hyperactive, tiny Etecoons. No doubt overlooked by the X as irrelevant, they were actually quite intelligent creatures.  
  
The mother Dachora dipped her head to me as if in acknowledgment, and strode regally from the room, the comical little procession following.  
  
I waited for several moments to be sure they would get to safety, and then boarded the elevator to the Main Deck.  
  
Etecoons and Dachoras…I'd met these intelligent creatures before. They seemed to recognize me, as well. How unusual to meet again here. In the past, they'd helped me unleash abilities I didn't know I'd had. But where did they run to? I hoped they were safe…  
  
Adam was waiting with more news when I arrived at the Nav. room. "So the survivors were not human…most unfortunate. We can now confirm the deaths of all crew members. I imagined that this was the case, but I had hoped it wasn't so. I believe the X only infected the humans for knowledge…that form is too weak for battle. Samus, I think they're evolving, growing stronger. Some are appearing now that can resist your current weapons. HQ anticipated this and sent Power Bomb data as soon as the hardware team finish it. Download it immediately. Our choice of Data rooms is limited to this one in Sector 5. Go. Now." 


	12. Part 10: Download

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews. Even shorter than the last chapter! Buahaha...suspense...  
  
Sector 5 (ARC)  
  
Part X - "Download"  
  
"True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings."  
  
- William Shakespeare  
  
This download was another routine. I spent some time just exploring the sector, learning where open and still-secured hatches were, just to make sure I'd know the sector layout when I knew it would become crucial information later.  
  
After this exploration, I made my way to the sector exit. Something was watching me…a shadowed entity zoomed around behind the three-yard-thick shatter-proof glass.  
  
I shuddered, somehow knowing instinctively that the glass wasn't nearly thick enough. I could see another disaster looming over the horizon, and I wasn't happy about it.  
  
Adam did nothing to ease my uncertainty, of course. "Samus, return to your ship. I have important information."  
  
Why did that sound so damn ominous? 


	13. Part 11: Query

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews. And in this chapter, Samus voices my own heartfelt confusion. I want to know how Ridely got onto the BSL Station. Intact. Because the Fusion storyline is set AFTER the events in Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, and Metroid Prime, (which coincidentally came between Metroid and Metroid II I think...or maybe it was in between Metroid and Super Metroid...) At any rate, Ridley shouldn't even have EXISTED to become an X host...because when Samus beat him down in Prime, he was already part machine. Ponder this, kiddies. XD  
  
Main Deck  
  
Part XI - "Query"  
  
"Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us footprints in the sand of time."  
  
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  
  
I was ascending in the elevator to the Main Deck when the power went out.  
  
I uttered a word my mother never would have approved of and gave in to my fate. Using a series of access conduits, maintenance tunnels, auxiliary crawlspaces, and cargo holds, I made my way onto the main deck. By the chill in the air, I knew I'd come up in Sub-Zero containment, but I'd never imagined what would be inside.  
  
Standing there in frozen, wicked glory, stood Ridley, the reptilian leader of the Pirate bastards that had destroyed my childhood home.  
  
I stared in open-mouthed shock, not quite able to believe I was actually seeing what my brain insisted was insistently making its way through my optical nerves.  
  
On Tallon…he'd been half-machine…  
  
How…  
  
I couldn't understand how he was here. Not machine, not dead…he'd been dropped into the depths of the Phazon meteor's crator, there's no way he could have survived…  
  
But as I took a step closer to examine him in my shock, I got my answer. A red glint appeared in his frozen eye, and Ridley crumbled like an avalanche. A large Core-X emerged from the hollowed-out remains and fled. I suppose it knew that I would have massacred it had it stayed put.  
  
I couldn't figure out how it was that Ridley, with all his limbs and extremities, wound up on a B.S.L. research station in deep freeze to become an X host when the last time I had confronted him, he'd been more machine than organic creature.  
  
There were some Feds somewhere with a large amount of explaining to do.  
  
I put it from my mind for the time being and instead turned my focus to the goal at hand.  
  
I boarded my ship. "What is it, Adam?" I asked irritably. "I had a helluva time getting here."  
  
"The main silo of the Reactor Core has gone offline. That's why all elevators and station systems have gone down. Elevators and hatches won't work. This doesn't bode well…  
  
"You may be able to start the auxiliary power system. Then we can figure out why the main silo has gone ofline…  
  
"By the way, I asked you to return here to tell you…"  
  
A mini-display flickered to life in the corner of my monitor. The mother Dachora and a pair of Etecoons looked back at me. While I watched them, the third Etecoon popped up into the view, his face obscuring the others.  
  
"Some strange creatures have boarded your ship. I confirmed that they were not X hosts and gave them a berth."  
  
The Etecoon disappeared from view and and it was then that I caught sight of the infant Dachora perched on mother's back. I smiled.  
  
"Do you know anything about these strange creatures?" Adam asked.  
  
"We've met before," I explained. "Etecoons and Dachora, respectively. The tiny one is a baby. They're actually quite intelligent."  
  
Adam processed this. "Were they the source of the healthy bio-signs earlier??" he asked next.  
  
"Affirmative."  
  
"Very well, then. Their presence in t he midst of this disaster must have some significance. I will keep them here."  
  
I nodded. "Thank you," I said.  
  
I disembarked, heading for what looked like a weakened bulkhead, and a power bomb got me into the maintenance tunnels.  
  
There were, of course, many X infesting the tunnels, and I fought my way past them, descending a long shaft to do battle with a Core-X that manifested in the shape of a giant, fire-breathing spider.  
  
Inventive, I thought wryly. Eurgh.  
  
As quickly as was possible and with as few scorch marks on my suit as possible, I dispatched the thing, earned back my inestimably useful Space Jump booster, and got out.   
  
The room beside the top of the of the shaft was the Auxiliary Power Station. I hacked its controls and soon had partial power back online.  
  
I continued through the corridor to the Nav. Room next door. My next instructions were ready and waiting.  
  
"With only auxiliary power, the elevators and hatches won't work. Without the main silo online, we're stuck. I believe the source of the problem is the vegetation you saw earlier choking the Reactor Core components. We'll have to find the source of these roots to proceed."  
  
I blew a breath out, the motion fogging my visor, and headed out.  
  
But the cold, nameless fear that had entered my heart at the beginning of this mission was eating at my soul once again.  
  
I knew I was being set up…  
  
I just didn't know by who. 


	14. Part 12: Flight

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 2 (TRO)  
  
Part XII - "Flight"  
  
"You must never run from fear. You must face it. Fear is a tracker that will hunt you down."  
  
- Lynn Andrews  
  
I found a small access conduit and used it to get into Sector 2. When I reached the end of the tunnel and got into the larger area of the room, I was hit with a sense of deep foreboding.  
  
Something wasn't right.  
  
I dropped down out of the conduit into the room proper and stopped dead. The SA-X was standing in the doorway with her back to me.  
  
"Ah, shit." I'd walked right into the trap she'd set. The SA-X turned, blank eyes meeting mine and making me shudder. The fear hit me next and fastened me quick to the ground.  
  
And then she came toward me. Her advance broke the fear-induced trance. I leaped into the air, arcing over her head, while blasts from her ice beam froze the walls around me.  
  
I hit the ground running and fired off an ice missile at her. It froze her in midstep and so I turned and bolted.  
  
I ran for my life, knowing the freezing effect wouldn't last near long enough, and found myself at a dead end. "No," I murmured in panic, "no, no, no! Oh damn…"  
  
I took a moment to try and calm my pounding heart, and dropped a power bomb, freezing the demon right as the hatch opened. I turned and ran again, tearing into the next room as quickly as possible. Her Ice Beam froze the wall beside me, and thanks to the Varia Suit data, I remained unharmed when a bolt glanced off my arm.  
  
I froze her with the blast of another missile and kept running. In the next room, there was a separating barrier that closed off one side of the room from the other; most likely used for testing of some sort. I dove down behind it and peered around the edge, ducking back when the SA-X entered. She scoured the room looking for me, and dropped a power bomb to try and burn me out of hiding. I jammed my teeth down into my lower lip to keep from screaming at the mild radioactive blast. That was the second time she'd done that. It was as if she were making a statement:  
  
"Come out and fight me or I'll make you wish you had."  
  
I waited for her to turn and leave before hissing out several consecutive, short curses. I picked myself up off the floor and slowly, eyes peeled, made my way back to the previous room.  
  
The ground sounded hollow beneath my feet, and I bombed my way through. The tropical habitat was a mess. Those vines were weaving themselves through everything, leaving vegetation everywhere, and what was worse, the cocoons I'd seen everywhere had quite obviously hatched, and flying insects the size of my ship's cockpit were everywhere. And what didn't fly, hopped. I was starting to miss the occasional Zoomer or Sidehopper. These new irritations were damn near impossible to get a decent target lock on. The bonus was that they froze rather nicely when I finally could hit them.  
  
And if anyone ever finds out that I have less than perfect aim, dear reader, it will be your head.  
  
I did uite a bit of climbing and shooting before falling through the trick floor that led me to the source of the vegetative problem. It wound up being a huge, stationary creature that looked to be half-plant and half-animal. I had no doubts that this odd being was itself no longer, but now an X host. So I plugged away at it, dodging the venomous spores coming from the smaller flowers near the corners of the room, and sure enough, it soon was forced to revert to Core-X form. The red eye opened and began charging.   
  
I swore even as it fired off a round that took me square in the chest and sent me hurtling backward to slam into the wall at my back at a good thirty-mile-per-hour clip. The wall at my back cracked a little at impact. I hit it very hard.  
  
For a moment, after I slid down the wall to land on my rear - rather undignified, really - I thought my spine had cracked as well. But when the hot, liquid pain from the Plasma Beam faded away and stopped searing my flesh, I stood, mildly pleased that all my joints were still in the right places and my bones were unharmed.  
  
I made a mental note to give my Power Suit the polishing of its existance if I got out of there alive.  
  
I shook off the dizziness and dull ache that had set in and finished off the Core-X with little difficulty. The Plasma Beam it carried packed a punch (as first-hand knowledge so attests), but it took a mooment to charge enough for a blast of any significance. I took back my Plasma Beam and traversed the sector to the Nav. room and exit. Funny enough, Adam was more surprised that I'd restored another beam function than he was that I'd almost gotten myself killed in another encounter with the SA-X.  
  
"What? You've restored Plasma Beam functionality? Most unexpected. Even so, continue to avoid the SA-X."  
  
No sweat. I didn't want her near me until she learned to control that itchy trigger finger.  
  
"It too, may be stronger."  
  
It was. I didn't doubt it for a second.  
  
"And you still lack a few abilities crucial to survival."  
  
Really, I thought bitterly. I hadn't forgotten, and it chafed. I hated that I didn't have the abilities that should have been mine, and yet some hell-spawned replica of me could use them with flawless precision.  
  
Life was really a kick in the ass some days.  
  
"Wait…" Adam had my attention in a snap with the anxious worry in his electronically generated voice. "Wait a second…more trouble."  
  
I sighed. Of course more trouble.  
  
"Hold on…I've isolated the cause.  
  
"There's been an explosion in the ARC Data room…"  
  
There went the idea of me gaining any more of my abilities back painlessly.  
  
Dammit.  
  
"Samus, go to Sector 5. The damage is staggering. Find out what's causing it." 


	15. Part 13: Demon

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 5 (ARC)  
  
Part XIII - "Demon"  
  
"Man is asked to make of himself what he is supposed to become to fulfill his destiny."  
  
- Paul Tillich  
  
"It's gotten worse," Adam informed me. I'd stopped off in the ARC Nav. room for a target.  
  
"The damage seems to have been caused by a creature cept here by the researchers, who named it…the Nightmare."  
  
What a bloody cheerful name.  
  
Why couldn't they have called it something less creepy? Why not "Fluffy?" Or…"Bitsy?" Something that didn't give me a sneaking suspicion that I was marching off to get eaten?  
  
"Apparently, it was a bio-mechanical organism designe for military applications."  
  
That answered that question.  
  
"It possesses uncommon power and can manipulate gravity. We must assume it's become an X host. We have no choice. You must find it and destroy it. I can't confirm the location. This thing is out of control. Hurry before it destroys the entire station."  
  
I swore softly under my breath. How many more pushes would the Federation make at the moral envelope? Had they not learned from the Metroid? Creation for nothing but science could never work. And a creation for the purpose of destruction would do nothing but destroy. And the Nightmare was doing exactly that. If I was lucky, I might be able to stop it without getting killed.  
  
I could see its power even by simply stepping into its former containment area. Glass crunched beneath my feet. Bent and torn steel beams littered the floor sand balanced precariously above, and I knew that even if I did stop the station from being destroyed, Biologic would still have to consider it a total loss. Maybe parts could be salvaged for scrap, but that was all the good it would be.  
  
The destruction kept getting worse the deeper in I got.  
  
The Nightmare was beginning to scare me.  
  
I picked my way through the rubble and past what used to be a Level 4 Security hatch and was now a ruined mess. I waded through several flooded chambers - refrigeration units busted; damaged beyond repair by the Nightmare's rampage - and through yet more destroyed hatches to a small chamber where only the Morph Ball might fit. I dropped down and began rolling only to feel a weak section of floor give way and deposit me in a huge chamber three decks high.  
  
A rumbling, almost sub-sonic soundd rattled my ears and my nerves, and got louder as the moments passed. I knew something was getting closer; I just couldn't see it.  
  
And then the Nightmare became real.  
  
It faded slowly into existence; a huge, misbegotten creation of man's most twisted imaginings. A huge, square head sat atop a miniscule, seemingly malformed body - and then I saw the engine. If I could take out that hub, maybe I could take out the Nightmare. I spied the huge plasma cannons on its long, dangling arms, and made it a point to stay out of range.  
  
Plasma beams were painful.  
  
The first few hits I scored with no problem. But I think I may have inadvertantly pissed it off, because when there was a small explosion in the engine, everything went funny.  
  
My visor went static for a moment and I suddenly felt as though I weighed much, much more than I should have.  
  
When my visor display came back, the walls themselves were wavering as if they wanted to collapse. The first missile I fired off rose pitifully into the air and fell back to earth, exploding harmlessly on the deck.  
  
Hmm. Gravity can be a bitch.  
  
I fell back onto a strategy of charged beam shots, and my plasma cannon seemed to do the trick.  
  
After what seemed like hours in increased gravity, I watched the engine go out in a spectacular, fiery blaze.   
  
It was then that I'm certain that the Space Jump booster saved my life.  
  
The Nightmare roared in angry pain and charged me, cannons blasting away. I yelped in surprise and leaped into the air, keeping an eye on the thing shile the boosters kept me aloft. If it hadn't been for that unofficial upgrade, I would have been a smoking hole in the deck. As it was, I maneuvered over to a nearby ledge and clung batlike to it, proceeding to plug away at the Nightmare with a missile barrage that didn'tcease until the thing had melted into yet another transparent Core-X. I blasted its hull away and absorbed it, taking back my Gravity Suit data and an urgently needed health restoration. I stood with my back to the wall for a moment to try and calm my labored breaths; I'd never before had gravity itself used against me as a weapon, and found it to be an exhausting weapon at that.  
  
As soon as I could move without getting dizzy, I exited the room and started backtracking. I was once again thwarted, however, by all too familiar piles of rubble that kept me from getting out the way I'd gotten in.  
  
With the help of my speed booster, I charged my way all the way through the Sector 5 basement and into Sector 4.  
  
This area of the sector was an underwater maze. I felt as though I was there for an eternity. I found the Level 4 Security room inadvertantly. Adam had mentioned nothing of activating it, but I had a sneaking suspicion that I wasn't getting out of there without it.  
  
I activated Level 4 hatches and continued upward, noting the location of the Data room, and decided to stop in and see if the hardware team had left me any presents. I was surprised to download a diffusion upgrade for my missile launcher, but welcomed the addition all the same. I found it to be quite useful, as at full power it froze little aquatic creatures in their tracks and kept them from clogging my way out.  
  
I trudged still-dripping into the Sector 4 Nav. room and reported back to Adam, who I knew would be less than pleased at my course of action. But my choices had been limited, and hang him if he couldn't see it.  
  
"You upgraded your missiles?" he asked, surprising me by focusing somewhere other than where I thought it would have been. "That's unusual…there was no word from HQ. A procedural error, I'm sure…"  
  
Something kicked into gear at the back of my mind. Adam - no, my ship's computer, I corrected myself - knew more than he was letting on. I know I'd get more information if I didn't press the matter, for I would be able to gather information from what he didn't say as well as what he did.  
  
"Even so, I did not approve of bypassing Security Level 4. From now on, you will use more discretion."  
  
I snorted. There was no point trying to explain to a machine that if I had not activated the Level 4 Security, I would not have gotten out of Sector 4. I'd still be down there.  
  
"In any case, Samus, do you remember the Security Robot you fought earlier?"  
  
How could I forget? It'd gotten away before I could turn it into scrap. "Yeah…why?"  
  
"I believe the X have infected it." Before I could ask how they'd infected a machine, he explained. "That is to say, they've claimed the organic components that form its neural network. It has entered Sector 6 (NOC). I don't know what it's planning, but let's not wait to find out." 


	16. Part 14: Rogue

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Sector 6 (NOC)  
  
Part XIV - "Rogue"  
  
"Focus on the solution, not the problem."  
  
- Walter Anderson  
  
An X-infected Security Robot.  
  
Apparently there was nothing those little bastards couldn't take if it had so much as one single organic cell. I punched in Adam's frequency at Sector 6 in case he had an update. Boy, did he ever.  
  
"The Security Robot seems to have gotten much stronger. This worries me. Be careful. But we have another problem. Once you're done, leave NOC immediately. The SA-X is tracking you."  
  
I blinked. "She what?!" I blurted before I could stop myself.  
  
"The SA-X is actively tracking you, Samus. Once you're done with that Security Robot, get out of there. It's probably on its way here already."  
  
I swallowed. Having the SA-X simply lay traps for me was bad enough…being manipulated into places I hadn't ever seen was a little worse.  
  
But knowing I was being actively hunted…  
  
I couldn't decide whether to be terrified of furious.  
  
I turned and trudged out of the Nav. room. After a short while of exploration and dropping through another weakened floor, I found an area of the sector I hadn't before seen.  
  
"Warning," the female computer's voice announced blandly, "no entry without authorization."  
  
I looked around at the very technical, scientific area.  
  
It seemed that the Federation had been hiding something from me…I wondered what it could be, but the access panel to the gate before me must've been on the other side of the door, for I could see the locked gate, but no lock itself.  
  
I backtracked to explor further when a crash from above rocked the walls. Making my way back up to the room that held the trick floor that had deposited me here, I saw that said hole had been miraculously repaired.  
  
So much for leaving the way I came.  
  
Near the other end of the long, narrow, flooded chamber, stood the rogue Security Robot. I looed down at the foot of water in the bottom of the chamber and tested it with a toe, earning myself a mild electric shock - only a few thousand volts.  
  
After the spots cleared from my vision, I muttered a bleak "It figures" and leaped upward, taking advantage of a groove in the ceiling, from which i hung while pelting the Robot with missile after missile after missile. Finally, the mechanical exterior exploded, and a Core-X armed with the eye-beam (one suspiciously similar to my Wave Beam) began charging, preparing to fire at me.   
  
I dropped down into the now-harmless water, ducked under the shot, and wailed on it with those handy missiles my suit came equipped with.   
  
The outer hull cracked and fell away. I wasted no time in heading back down to the one-way door. The electrical current shorted out the door's lock, and it slid cooperatively open.  
  
"Warning," the station informed me again, "no entry without authorization."  
  
My beam cannon carried all the authorization I needed, thank you. I walked deeper into the very official-looking facility, glancing around myself as I did. This was no normal part of the station. I glanced out a viewport and down on SR388, far below. No, I thought again. This wasn't a lab. It was a deathtrap…and bait for the SA-X…anything off-limits such as this would automatically attract her.   
  
What was I getting myself into? 


	17. Part 15: Discovery

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews. This one was fun to write. I enjoy angst and confrontation in literature, and Samus was pissed as all hell when Adam boxed her in like that. Read and enjoy, yo.  
  
Restricted Lab  
  
Part XIV - "Discovery"  
  
"The thing we fear we bring to pass."  
  
- Elbert Hubbard  
  
As I crept further into what was very obviously a restricted access area, my thoughts grew darker. I knew that the SA-X couldn't be far away…  
  
But that train of thought derailed rather swiftly when I came to the containment facility…  
  
Metroids…larval Metroids swirled and screeched impossibly behind glass in huge tanks, agitated by my presence because they could not reach me. I stared in shocked, horrified fascination as it struck me…  
  
The Federation had learned nothing. T he mistakes made that had grown to haunt me were moving large as life in those tanks. In larval form, and even in further stages of growth…Alpha, Gamma, and Zeta Metroids in stasis tanks…  
  
This was wrong. Very wrong.  
  
My skin had begun to crawl even before I realized what I was seeing…the fifth tank. The tank that should have contained an Omega Metroid in stasis - a fully developed, ultimate level of growth - was empty. "Oh damn," I murmured in breathless horror, "please tell me it's in another testing facility…" But there was no sign of the beast anywhere. I stepped through a door into the second level of the first containment area and the place went to hell. Glass shatterred below, the sound hitting my ears just before the siren alarm blared and the light flashed red.  
  
I tore back to the first level and froze when I saw the SA-X standing there. When she paid no attention to me, however, I was able to calm myself long enough to take a closer look. The glass had shattered rather violently, and the larval Metroids that had broken free were now closing in on their target. The SA-X was firing frantically at the Metroids, but couldn't hit them. Their swift movements carried them down upon her. The Metroids had smelled their enemy and were now closing in. They closed in and swirled around her for a moment before attacking.  
  
She gave an almost animalistic scream as she went down beneath the blanket of energy-sucking Metroid larvae, disappearing beneath their swift-working fangs. I wanted to run, but found myself watching in wicked, vengeful fascination as my former enemies buried the SA-X so deep that I couldn't even see her anymore. I nodded in somewhat sadistic approval. "Sixty seconds to lab jettison," the computer warned.  
  
The Space Jump saved my life once again. For a moment I contemplated herding one of the larval Metroids to safety with me, but I wanted to be sure the Federation couldn't do something like this again. And so, I watched the lab jettison and explode several hundred kilometers from the station. I had sacrificed the Metroid species to destroy the SA-X, and I would do it a hundred times over if I had to.  
  
I marched angrily out to the nearest Nav. room I could find, and punched the frequency up to have a little chat with my shup. No longer did I think of it as Adam. Adam would never have withheld such vital information.  
  
Adam would never have risked my life.  
  
"Explain this one, machine," I snarled.  
  
"Samus, you shouldn't have done that. You ignored your orders. You may have to pay a price for that quite soon."  
  
"To hell with my orders!" I shot back, bristling. "You didn't tell me everything I needed to know, you soulless, mechanical bastard! I ought to rewire you myself! You knew that accursed lab was there!! You knew the SA-X would head straight for it! Why didn't you tell me?!" I cried. "I could have been killed!" I was on a roll and very angry. "You take your orders and go to hell," I growled.  
  
There was silence for a moment, as though the computer was letting my anger run its course. "As you can see," it said calmly, "the Federation has been secretly working on a Metroid breeding program. For peacefull applications only, of course."  
  
"Sure," I said acidly.  
  
"Please understand," it said next. "But perhaps you already knew of this program's existence?"  
  
I laughed shortly. "I'm just the hired gun. What would I know?" I asked icily.  
  
"Certainly, you must have had doubts when you saw Sector 1. SRX, a faithful replica of the SR388 ecosystem…"  
  
"Busy trying not to get killed at the time," I reminded rather pointedly.   
  
"Ideal," it continued on as if I hadn't spoken, "for raising Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and even Omega Metroids. This research even uncovered techniques for rapid growth. Imagine…creating an Omega from a larval Metroid in days…"  
  
If it was attempting to sway me, it had done nothing but strengthen my resolve. Just because science could be used to do something did not mean it should be. And it seemed that mankind had not yet learned that lesson.  
  
"But that research is finished. The X has smelled out its natural enemy, and one of the SA-X is on its way here…"  
  
I choked, the anger forgotten. "ONE?! Are you saying there's more than one SA-X?!" I cried.  
  
"Don't be so surprised, Samus," the computer replied clinically. "You know that the X reproduce by asexual division. Because of this mechanism, there are now no fewer than ten SA-X aboard the station."  
  
I felt a little dizzy and more than a little sick. Please tell me, I thought desperately, that this is just a sick joke.  
  
Because if it wasn't…I was dead. I couldn't think of a single thing to say and instead leaned forward onto the console, concentrating on trying not to be sick.  
  
"Samus, you must go. Get out. If you stay too long, the SA-X will destroy you. Stop only at a Navigation room to uplink to me. I don't know how HQ is going to take this, but you need to report to them immediately…"  
  
I made my way to the elevator, thoughts torn in so many directions. One thought stood out, however. The real Adam would have said the same thing about the incident, but he would have softened the blow. He was relentless in his criticism, but he always cared…he was not a machine obsessed with duty. No such compassion could exist in that computer.  
  
I was in an unfamiliar portion of Sector 1, and moved carefully, realizing quickly that I would never get out unless I found a way to restore my Screw Attack. It could punch through just about anything. But all the Data rooms except Sector 4 had been destroyed (and there was no way in hell I was going to traipseall the way back there with no guarantee that one of those SA-X monsters wasn't there waiting for me), and even if I could find one unmarred, I'd been cut off from hardware support anyway.  
  
Beauty. Here's hoping I could find something to kill.  
  
My hopes turned up a mixed blessing.   
  
At the bottom of a large chamber sat none other than Ridley. Or what looked like him, anyway. It was, however, an X host, and I knew because I'd seen Ridley's crumbled, frozen remains in Sub-Zero containment.  
  
Someone had a lot of explaining to do when I got home. If I got home.  
  
The fight was long and admittedly painful and bitter. Ridley-X didn't like eating missile anymore than the real Ridley had, and the Core-X he eventually became was toast in a matter of moments. I regained the Screw attack and realized that it was the last ability I would be able to get back since my body would reject the addition of an Ice Beam.  
  
But I started to wonder if that had been true or just another deception. I supposed I would never know.  
  
The journey out of Sector 1 was long and difficult, but I finally made it to the Nav. room to find out what hoop they wanted me jumping through next.  
  
"Samus, we're done here. Leave the rest to the Federation. We should be preparing to evacuate the station."  
  
"Are you joking?" I retorted sharply. I was shocked. "Do they know how dangerous the X are? How quickly they reproduce?"  
  
"The Federation," the computer said calmly, "has taken an interest in the X and the SA-X. They believe this llife form has endless potential applications."  
  
I had never before seen or heard of such belligerent, bull-headed stupiidity in all of my life. "This is ridiculous!" I growled. "The X are heartless abominations! What potential could they possibly have?!"  
  
"It's not necessary that you understand such matters. The Federation is coming now. You should just leave quietly."  
  
Something snapped. I growled menacingly. That tin can had better say something nice. I refused to be treated like a child by a machine. "This. Is. Madness," I snarled. "They won't stand a chance here! This station will devour them! What on earth could be worth the risk?!"  
  
"Capturing the SA-X, of course."  
  
I wouldn't have been more shocked if Adam Malkovich himself had walked in the room and slugged me in the stomach. "Are you serious?! Do they really think they can succeed?"  
  
"It will certainly be difficult," it replied, "they don't expect your help." Good. They wouldn't get it. Unless it was for me to help beat some sense into those idiots. "They knew you would try to destroy the SA-X."  
  
"Hell yes I would!" I roared.  
  
"That's why they stopped sending you support data…the Plasma Beam modification was ready some time ago, but they withheld it to keep you from engaging the SA-X."  
  
That did it. "I KNEW IT!" I roared, tearing my helmet savagely off. "I KNEW you were holding out on me," I growled fiercely. "You arrogant, soulless bastard. Open the damn hatch."  
  
"I can't do that," it said in that same cold, detatched voice, and it took everything I had to control my towering rage and keep myself from blowing a hole in that monitor. The computer continued. "Somehow, you restored that function on your own. They also tried to withhold the Diffusion Missile upgrade, because they didn't want you to grow t oo powerful. But they had already sent it, and you tracked it down…  
  
"Bravo, Samus."  
  
I was so angry that I couldn't even think of a reply to that last acidic little quip. "They must cancel this mission! Open a channel to HQ! I won't let this happen!"  
  
"They are already on their way."  
  
"Fools," I hissed through clenched teeth.  
  
As soon as the Federation ships landed, the X would overwhelm them and absorb the knowledge of their occupants. The X were just waiting for the hunt to begin, and then they'd spread across the universe.  
  
Galactic civilization would end.  
  
The X hungered for form, knowledge, and power. They mimicked these perfectly. But they could not copy the spirit. They were single-minded, instinctively seeking to increase in number. They were a plague, and the Federation underestimated their threat.  
  
The X must not leave here, I thought grimly. I must destroy them all before the Federation arrives.  
  
The station had a self-destruct mechanism. I had to use it to destroy the X both on the station and on the planet. I had to send them to oblivion. Them, the station, and myself…  
  
"If I must," I murmured. I turned away from the monitor, heading for the hatch, and when it didn't open, I thumped face first into it. A curse slipped past my lips and I shot the monitor a glare. "Open the hatch!" I snapped, angry and desperate. I was losing time…  
  
"I've been ordered to confinue you until the ships arrive," I was informed.  
  
Boxed in. Of all the stupid, stupid…  
  
"Don't let them do this," I pled, my eyes actually stinging. I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen to the universe as I knew it. I'd be alone again…  
  
Perhaps it was this fear that caused me to slip. "Can't you see what will happen, Adam?" I blurted, and then froze, covering my mouth with one hand. I turned away from the monitor, pacing.  
  
There was silence in the tiny room, and I could feel the mechanical eyes regarding me. "Adam?" it asked.  
  
Dammit. I didn't answer.  
  
"Who is Adam?" it pressed.  
  
I was reluctant to reply, but felt that I would get nowhere unless I did. "A friend of mine," I murmured hesitantly.  
  
"And what would this…friend advise you to do now?"  
  
I didn't know why the computer had placed such an odd inflection on the word "friend." I brushed it off. "He would know that the only way to end this is to start the self-destruct cycle. He'd know how important it is!" I cried.  
  
"Did this "Adam" care for you?" it asked next. I wasn't sure I liked where these questions were going. "Would he sit in a safe Command room and order you to die?"  
  
I scowled at the blatant disregard. "He understood," I said coldly, "that some must live and some must die. He knew what it meant." I was quiet for a moment out of respect. "He made that sacrifice once," I finished.  
  
"So he chose life for you?" the computer mused. "Our fair warrior, Samus Aran…your Adam gave his life so that you ight keep yours…for the sake of the universe."  
  
I detected something akin to a sneer in the mechanical voice. I was seething now and didn't yet trust my voice enough to answer.  
  
"How foolish."  
  
That pushed me over the edge. Once more I found myself enraged at the heartless machine. "How dare you?!" I shouted at it. "How could you hope to understand, machine?" I spat. It knew nothing. Adam had been a friend…confidant…this was a tin can, a hunk of metal with no soul…it couldn't comrehend loyalty, friendship, love…  
  
The computer didn't answer my question.  
  
Not directly. "You know that detonating this station in high orbit would not guarantee the complete extinction of the X parasites, even though the station would be utterly destroyed…you would only succeed in removing the one obstacle to the galaxy's ruin…yourself. You would ignore this simple fact and choose death. When Adam decided who would live, he chose incorrectly."  
  
Dumbfounded didn't even come close to describing it. I stared. The wind had been knocked out of my lungs. There were just…no words.  
  
"If you were," the computer continued, "to alter the station's orbit, then you might be able to include the planet in the vaporization field of the self-destruct mechanism."  
  
"I…" I breathed, suffering something akin to whiplash from the complete one-eighty.  
  
"You would have to start the propulsion sequence now, before the Federation arrives. Samus, this is your last mission. Go to the Operations room and adjust the station's orbit path to intercept SR388. Then return to your ship and escape."  
  
I stared at the monitor, unable to process what I'd just heard.  
  
"Move quickly, and stay alive. That's an order! …Any objections, Lady?" There was a smile in the voice, and it didn't sound automated anymore…it was familiar, stern and yet warm, caring…  
  
It was Adam. The voice of my Adam. "None, sir," I replied quietly. I returned my helmet to my head and turned, heading for the Ops. Deck with a renewed sense of purpose. Soon, this would all be over.  
  
Very soon. 


	18. Part 16: Endgame

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews.  
  
Operations Deck/Landing Bay  
  
Part XVI - "Endgame"  
  
If things do not turn out as we wish, we should wish for them as they turn out.  
  
- Aristotle  
  
Nothing happened on the way to the Ops. Deck. I walked in and found all hatches sealed, much to my confusion. But when I examined the hatch that led to the Control room, I found it sealed tight.  
  
Something exploded behind me and I turned to see the SA-X standing right in my path of flight.  
  
I swore and dove for cover as an icy beam shot lanced over my head. I fired a charged shot back, and a firefight ensued that would last for a long hour before I finally struck the lucky shot that hit home. The SA-X screamed in angry pain and I watched in fascination as it melted and morphed into a huge, many-eyed, multi-fanged creature that leaped into the air to come crashing down upon the very spot where I'd been hiding. I rolled to avoid it and let loose with shot after shot of charged Wave Beam until it became an icy blue Core-X.  
  
I put its eye out, so to speak, and moved to absorb it. It dodged away from my reaching hand and swiftly moved away.  
  
Vulnerable, I figured, it would not challenge me. I went to the Control room and set the orbit and destruct sequences.  
  
"Warning," the station spoke, "three minutes to self-destruct."  
  
I turned and ran like hell.  
  
It was as though the X knew they were at their end. I hit no opposition on the way to the Docking Bay and to the ruined Landing bay where my ship was…and found it gone. "Shit!" I hissed. Where the ship had been was now a large, translucent shell with a hole in its top. I turned to go - there had to be an escape pod somewhere - and saw the side of the already-wrecked bay crumble and collaps beneath the weight of a huge claw.  
  
The Omega Metroid clawed its way through the rubble, and before I could move, it was upon me. It slashed at me with one enormous claw, and I couldn't get out of the way in time.  
  
The claw cut through not only my suit's remaining layers, but flesh and muscle too. I fell back with an involuntary howl of pain, bleeding from the huge gash in my abdomen.  
  
It was over. The thing advanced on me even as I slumped down against the far wall, gasping for futile breath past the searing pain. I watched it come, lacking the energy to even be afraid. I'd given it my all; I would die with no regrets.  
  
Well. Maybe one or two that I would admit.  
  
But it was not my day to die.  
  
The Core-X of icy blue drifted into the bay and reformed into my soulless twin. The SA-X looked down at me while I tried to hold my stomach closed in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Her blank eyes watched my life spill out in crimson onto the deck, her face unreadable. The white eyes turned to the Omega Metroid, and then, beam cannon raised, she charged forward and began firing shot after frenzied shot at its vulnerable underside.  
  
I watched in dizzy, pain-glazed fascination as the SA-X fought so valiantly against its ultimate predator. For a time it seemed as though she might be victorious, but the Omega swung one huge claw and forced her back into the form of the Core-X. It hovered in disorientation and swerved back in the air toward me. Without even so much as a hesitation, it absorbed itself in through the huge gash in my stomach.  
  
Cold shot through me, but instead of bringing more agony, my pain washed away. I felt revitalized, and, looking down, watched my flesh knit back together. My suit shimmered, repairing itself…and reverted back to its full form, the orange of the Power Suit's outer armored layer shimmering back into place, the Ice Beam reactivated with the absorption. My strength and armor were restored.  
  
I rushed the Omega and got right down beneath it where it couldn't reach me and went to hell on it with my new Ice Beam.   
  
I barely escaped before it collapsed in its death throes and stepped to the edge to watch my ship return and land in the hangar.  
  
"Warning," I heard the station's computer say as I boarded my ship, "thiry seconds to station self-destruct." 


	19. Epilogue: Truth

A/N: This is yet another novel fanfiction I've written, cataloguing the mission played out in Metroid Fusion, the latest Metroid work by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance. Pure artistic lisence was used. Metroid is owned by Nintendo and the creators of Metroid. So read and enjoy. And please, feel free to leave reviews. This is it! You made it through. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my little experiment. Ciao until the next fic!  
  
Samus' Ship  
  
Epilogue - Truth  
  
"The search for truth is in one way hard and one way easy, for it is evident that no one can master it fully or miss it wholly. But each adds a little to our knowledge of nature, and from all the facts assembled there arises a certain grandeur."  
  
-Aristotle  
  
I had gotten cleaned up long after the B.S.L. station was debris amongst flames upon SR388, and now sit at my control panel in the cockpit, recording this misbegotten mission into the ship's onboard log.  
  
And as has happened so many times on this mission, I find my thoughts drifting to Adam.  
  
That perfect military mind…  
  
The wisdom of Adam Malkovich continued to serve even after death. Until today, I'd had no idea that the minds of leaders and scientists were frequently uploaded to computers. My incredible reunion with Adam may have saved the universe…  
  
I look out the viewport and sigh…I know things won't end like they should. I can't help but wish I could make people see. I can't understand.  
  
But how will the beings of the universe view our resolve? I doubt they will understand what we did…the danger we barely averted. They will hold tribunals and investigations. They will hold us responsible. Adam understood this, and he spoke to me in my anger.  
  
"Don't worry. One of them will understand. One of them must."  
  
I've reflected upon his words, and I see the wisdom in them. We are all bound by our experiences. They're the limits of our consciousness. But in the end, the human soul will ever reach for the truth…  
  
That's what Adam taught me.  
  
Just one detail still bothers me.  
  
This ship can only be started manually. Yet before I faced the Omega Metroid, the ship moved on its own, guided by someone's hands. Is it possible?  
  
"…Adam?" I ask quietly.  
  
"Lady," comes the soft, steady voice I'd grown so accustomed to, "what's troubling you?" He scanned the memory of the log entries I'd just made. "Ah…you wonder how I started the ship? Think about it…"   
  
The camera in the cargo bay fed a picture to the monitor in the cockpit. The Etecoons and Dachoras were sleeping in a huddled mass, the baby Dachora slumbering on its mother's back, the three Etecoons huddled beside the large Dachora bird. I couldn't help but smile. "They lent me a hand…"  
  
And I smile.  
  
It's over.  
  
And the galaxy still has a future.  
  
Will they understand? Doubtful. But there's always time to learn. And to reach for the truth.  
  
Someday the Federation might send another research team to SR388, and I'm certain they'll call me in to guard it. And someone might one day want to try and harness the power of the Metroid for galactic good.  
  
And when they do, hopefully they'll look back on this log, fully research this mission, and understand the truth.  
  
The truth is, some things are better left for someone else to find.   
  
And others are better left for no one else to find. The Metroid…the X…they were prime examples of this. I therefore record this log as I look back on the remains of the station in the center of a crater on SR388, and hope that my thoughts, my experiences, my knowledge…  
  
I hope that these records will be wisdom for someone else someday.  
  
And I also hope that mankind will search eternally for truth.  
  
- End - 


End file.
